Onze Natuur, het Wilde België
Ambitious nature documentary about wildlife you wouldn’t expect to find in densely populated Belgium. Full of extraordinary stories about known and unknown animals: victors, opportunists, fighters, smart ones and bosses.
Anyone who has ever seen a wildlife documentary knows that its makers must have a lot of patience. To capture exactly at the right moment, in the right setting and the right light, how, for instance, two hares are boxing, moor frogs turn bright blue in the short mating season, young foxes come out of their burrows for the first time or a tree falcon chases dragonflies. The directors of ONZE NATUUR... were very patient indeed. It took them three years and 960 shooting days to film almost all the beauty (only the wolf is missing) of Belgian nature with the most advanced equipment. Scientists, foresters and nature lovers alerted them where and when there was something to see. And using the successful Dutch nature documentary DE NIEUWE WILDERNIS as an example, again after much patience, enough money became available to complete the film.
The result is a wonderful portrait of Belgian nature, which does not hide the fact that it was shot in a densely populated country. So we sometimes see a group of bicycle tourists passing by or a windmill on the horizon. ONZE NATUUR... was already shown as a series on Belgian TV last winter, but it is of course much more beautiful to watch it on the big screen. (jc)